Sex and Power in History: How the Difference Between the Sexes Has Shaped Our Destinies

Description

“What is male, what is female, how should they relate?” To answer these great basic questions, so perplexing and controversial today, a wise and sympathetic Frenchman traces the changing historic roles of women, especially Western women. He reaches back to remote sources to explain—and suggest solutions to—the current predicament of the sexes. When some three of four thousand years ago men revolted against the myth of the Great Earth Goddess and set up dominant male gods, it was a psychological event of the first magnitude. This shift to the masculine principle, claims de Riencourt, marked the beginning of history proper and led to the male-oriented societies of Greece and Rome. In Rome it also led to the first full-scale rebellion of women, so similar to what’s happening today. From Rome’s fall, de Riencourt follows the fortunes of women from tribal and feudal to Renaissance and industrial socities and makes some startling predictions about the direction of Western human ecology. Sex and Power in History is a bold and brilliant synthesis of many disciplines, including sociology, biology, psychology, and religion. It discusses: The powerful women of history and the cultures that nourished them ... why men and women don’t think alike ... how women were vital to the spread of Christianity ... the most creative social experiment of our century that truly liberates women... the relationship between stable family life and the power of women ... why Oriental cultures accommodate men and women better than the West... the Reformation and the degradation of women ... how women fare under modem socialism ... the link between widespread male homosexuality and the social repression of women ... the dangerous implications of the current blurring of sexual differences ... and much, much more, as he analyzes the nature of men and women and the myths and misconceptions that separate or unite them. Introduction, vii Part I. Before History: The Eternal Feminine Chapter 1. Anthropoids and Humans, 3 Chapter 2. Incest and Communication, 9 Chapter 3. The Rise and Fall of the Great Mother, 17 Chapter 4. The Past That Survives, 42 Chapter 5. The Biological Roots, 49 Chapter 6. Sex and Psyche, 60 Part II. The Axial Period: Woman and Religion Chapter 1. The Patriarchal Revolution, 69 Chapter 2. Iran and Israel: The Spiritual Breakthrough, 79 Chapter 3. Greece: The Intellectual Breakthrough, 93 Chapter 4. Roman Matrons and World Empire, 120 Chapter 5. The Religious Awakening, 128 Chapter 6. Christianity, 137 Chapter 7. India and China, 161 Chapter 8. Islam, 186 Chapter 9. Prophetism and Mysticism, 198 Part III. The Rise of the West: Woman and Culture Chapter 1. The Barbarian Woman, 207 Chapter 2. The Medieval Lady, 218 Chapter 3. The Virago, 232 Chapter 4. The Witch, 243 Chapter 5. The Reformed Woman, 256 Chapter 6. The Cultured Woman, 264 Part IV. The Modern Age: Woman and Civilization Chapter 1. Woman in Search of an Identity, 283 Chapter 2. Industrial Revolution: The Birth of Feminism, 299 Chapter 3. The Victorian Age, 311 Chapter 4. Culture and Civilization, 328 Part V. Beyond History: Woman and Revolution Chapter 1. The Dream of Anarchy, 343 Chapter 2. Revolution in Action, 360 Chapter 3. The Communist Reality, 371 Chapter 4. Cultural Revolution in the West 397 Chapter 5. Pandora’s Daughters, 403 Chapter 6. The End of the Iron Age, 419 Notes and References, 425 Bibliography, 449 Index, 457